Entertainment

'Spy' review: Melissa McCarthy fends off co-stars who would steal this hilarious mayhem

Though she had plenty of previous credits, I was among the many who first took notice of Melissa McCarthy from her supporting role in Paul Feig's 2011 film Bridesmaids. Hard not to take notice of her — she took a dump in the sink.

It wasn't that Kristen Wiig wasn't hilarious, but McCarthy's Tasmanian Devil tough gal stole every scene. Now, after McCarthy and Feig's follow-up The Heat, a curious thing happens in their third film Spy. It's as if each of her co-stars are trying to one-up McCarthy, to be the break-out side character.

But McCarthy isn't going down easy. As a result everyone is freaking hilarious, and when Spy's second act kicks in, it's scene after scene of laughs and mayhem.

To detail the ludicrous plot would be a waste of time. Just know that McCarthy's Susan Cooper is a brilliant but somewhat shy CIA agent who works “in the basement,” meaning she's the eyes-and-ears to a 007-like murder machine “in the field” (in this case, a tuxedoed Jude Law.) After an operation goes bad and all the top agents have their covers blown, only Cooper can get out there and try to find a missing suitcase nuke.

Even more than in Bridesmaids and The Heat, Spy takes a little while to get cooking. Quite frankly, I was worried the magic was gone during the first 20 minutes or so. But once Susan gets her first of many humiliating secret identities (lotsa cat ladies) that's when things change from light chuckles to full belly laughs.

Let's talk about the team that works to make this happen, each a contender for being the movie's secret weapon.

A scene from "Spy."

Alison Janney: Trading on her likability, Janney is a smart, unexpected choice as the angry and dismissive CIA head. She's first to recognize Cooper's raw talent, but quick to tell her to STFU (and mock her for getting pink eye.)

Peter Serafinowicz: Cooper's fieldwork takes her to Paris and Budapest, with an extended middle sequence in Rome. There she meets a local asset named Aldo, an absurd, hyper-sexual Italian with poor driving habits and a mouthful of aphorisms. What's great is that some of McCarthy's comedy derives from not exactly having a supermodel's look. But to Aldo, she's a pinnacle of beauty, so watching her swat him away while they chase baddies opens a door to a whole new set of jokes.

Miranda Hart: A strong contender for being Spy's big breakout, as I'd never heard of her before. Hart, a British television star, is a perfect visual sidekick for McCarthy — self-deprecating, super tall and broad-shouldered, like Popeye's “Alice the Goon.” She calls 50 Cent “Fifty Cent Piece” and sweats a lot. I'm still laughing at some of her dopey facial expressions.

Jason Statham: Tweaking his own badass persona, Statham's lethal agent quickly reveals himself to be a ridiculous show-off and doofus. He's furious that Cooper is on the case, convinced she'll screw it up. As a result he goes rogue and commences to make an absolute mess of things. Like I said, Spy takes a little while to kick into gear, but the first (of many) one-on-one verbal spats between these two is when the movie takes off.

Rose Byrne: Neighbors should have prepared us for just how funny Byrne can be, but her turn as a Bulgarian super-criminal just destroyed me. Each of her vulgar, tongue-twister lines is delivered in a flat, blasé manner, with her eyes at half-mast due to boredom. (She kinda reminded me of a murderous Arianna Huffington.) It's like a cross between Aubrey Plaza and Natasha Badanov mixed with a half-dozen martinis. Every utterance kills.

Paul Feig unleashes these five challenges, but no one is going to upstage Melissa McCarthy without a fight. That's the formula that makes this movie work.

Not the stupid plot (or cheap looking action on poorly lit HD video.) For the first time in one of Feig's movies, we see McCarthy's character have a full arc. She starts out insecure and mousy, but by the time she's opposite Rose Byrne she's doing her full-tilt aggro schtick. The ride getting her to that point makes the explosion even more rewarding.

So who wins Spy's comedy battle royale? It'll be fun to have that argument once everyone's seen it. Hopefully a foul-mouthed, high-volume argument with an unexpected chase scene.

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